Amazon to Waive Referral Fees and Reduce Shipping Costs
Amazon is implementing a series of changes designed to support sellers and small businesses on its platform. These changes include waiving referral fees on a wide range of products and reducing shipping rates.
Beginning April 7, Amazon will remove referral fees for over 12 million products priced under ₹300. This waiver will apply to more than 135 product categories. These categories include apparel, shoes, jewelry, groceries, home décor, beauty, toys, and kitchen items. This initiative aims to provide financial relief to small businesses that sell on the platform. Currently, sellers are charged referral fees between 2% and 16% in these categories.
In addition to the referral fee waiver, Amazon India is lowering its national shipping rates. These reductions apply to sellers utilizing external fulfillment channels like Easy Ship and Seller Flex. The cost will decrease from ₹77 to ₹65. Weight handling fees for items under 1 kg will also be reduced by up to ₹17.
Amazon mentioned that sellers shipping multiple units in a single order could experience savings of up to 90% on the fees for the second unit.
Amit Nanda, director of selling partner services at Amazon India, stated that these adjustments are intended to help sellers broaden their product selections and provide more competitive prices, especially on low-cost everyday items. He noted that referral and shipping fees typically account for around 90-95% of the total expenses sellers face on the platform.
“As part of the continuing action to help sellers reduce their cost of doing business, we are now making a really large change in terms of the drop in selling fees on Amazon,” Nanda told the publication. “In the past also, we have made fee drops to help sellers. But they were more focused, and not as wide.”
In related news, Amazon has introduced a ₹49 processing fee for customers using Instant Bank Discounts (IBD) of ₹500 or more. This change reduces the savings consumers receive through banking partnerships. This fee, which took effect yesterday, applies to all customers, including Prime members, and is non-refundable, even if orders are canceled or returned. According to Amazon, the fee helps cover expenses related to “aggregating, managing, and processing bank discount offers” on their platform.
